1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an engine stopping apparatus, and more particularly to an engine stopping apparatus for stopping an engine to prevent the theft of a compact vehicle with an engine mounted, such as a compact propelled vessel and a snow vehicle, and during an emergency.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a compact surface propelled vessel such as a water motorcycle and a compact snow vehicle such as a snowmobile, a lanyard cord is connected to a stop switch for emergency-stopping an engine which uses an engine stopping apparatus for stopping an engine when a driver has fallen off the vessel or the vehicle. One end of the lanyard cord is fitted over a wrist or the like of the driver, while bifurcated retaining claws are provided at the other end thereof When operating the vessel or the vehicle, a driving projecting portion of the engine stop switch is nipped by the retaining claws to hold the switch in a nonoperative state. When the driver has fallen off the vessel or the vehicle and the retaining claws of the lanyard cord are disengaged from the stop switch, the switch is operated to stop the engine.
In addition, a theft-preventing lanyard cord for preventing theft is conceivable in which an identification number is stored in a retaining claw portion at the tip of the lanyard cord, and the engine is made operable only when the number matches, thereby making it impossible to start the engine when a person other than a specified owner attempts to drive the vessel or the vehicle.
Meanwhile, an immobilizer is used as an apparatus for preventing theft of an automobile. This immobilizer is arranged such that a transponder in which information on identification of the owner is stored is attached to a key, and an antenna is provided on a key cylinder on the vehicle body side, and a collating circuit is connected to the antenna via a transceiver. If an ignition switch is turned by the key, the transponder incorporated in the key is automatically collated with. Since the engine cannot be started unless the transponder of the key matches with the registered identification information, the unauthorized use by a third party is prevented so as to prevent the theft.
With the conventional engine stopping apparatus using a lanyard cord, it is troublesome to fit the cord to a vehicle body side such as a vessel body or the vehicle body. Particularly when the driver has fallen into water and after the driver rides on the vehicle again after the engine stop, time and trouble are involved in fitting the small retaining claws at the tip of the lanyard cord to the driving projecting portion of the stop switch.
In addition, if an attempt is made to apply the conventional immobilizer for preventing the theft of an automobile to a surface propelled vessel having an engine stopping apparatus, since the arrangement provided is such that the transponder is incorporated in the key and is held on the vehicle body side during driving, it is impossible to cope with the case in which the driver has fallen into water or fallen off the vehicle. Further, the immobilizer cannot be generally applied to a compact propelled vessel which does not have a key switch structure (main switch).
In view of the above-described conventional art, it is an object of the invention to provide an engine stopping apparatus which makes it possible to prevent theft by preventing unauthorized driving by a third party without using a cord for connecting the driver to the vehicle body, and which makes it possible to stop the engine upon detecting the driver falling into water or falling off the vehicle.
To attain the above object, in accordance with the present invention there is provided an engine stopping apparatus comprising: a vehicle body with an engine mounted therein; a transponder to which information on identification of a driver has been inputted; a collating circuit for identifying the driver on the basis of a response signal from the transponder; and a control circuit for controlling the driving of the engine on the basis of a result of collation by the collating circuit, wherein the transponder is arranged to be held in a state of being worn on a driver side separately from the vehicle body.
According to this arrangement, since the transponder to which identification information has been inputted is held on the driver side, it is possible to prevent theft by preventing unauthorized driving by a third party by identifying the driver with a simple arrangement without using a connecting cord such as a lanyard cord. In addition, it becomes possible to stop the engine upon detecting an emergency such as the falling into water or falling off the vehicle of the driver.
It should be noted that the term xe2x80x9cduring runningxe2x80x9d means that the engine is being operated, and includes not only a case in which the vehicle body is actually running (or cruising) but also a case in which the vehicle body is at a standstill with the engine in an idling state.
In a preferred example, the control circuit constantly transmits a collation signal to the transponder at fixed periods during running, and when the response signal from the transponder with respect to the collation signal is absent, the engine is stopped.
According to this arrangement, a collation signal can be transmitted from the vehicle body side to the transponder worn on the driver side at fixed periods, and the presence of the driver can be confirmed by the presence or absence of a response signal from the transponder. When the response signal from the transponder is absent, the engine can be stopped upon determining that the driver has fallen into water or fallen from the vehicle.
In a still another preferred example, the vehicle body is a compact propelled vessel.
According to this arrangement, particularly when the driver has fallen into water from a compact propelled vessel, the engine is immediately stopped, so that the vessel body does not move far away from the position where the driver has fallen into water, so that the driver is able to ride on the vessel again easily.